Zootopia's introduction to video games
by s82161
Summary: When Al Alcorn and Nolan Bushnell, two squirrels, install a arcade called Pong in Zootopia in a bar, people go crazy over it. Soon, there are many video games appear all over Zootopia But when somebody dies while playing the arcade game Berzerk, Zootopia bans video games. Will Zootopia be able to handle video games?
1. Pong

_November 29, 1972_

In the bustling mammal metropolis called Zootopia, there was a bar called Andy Capp's Tavern. There were dozens of mammals in the bar. There was a recent addition to the bar. A strange arcade machine was installed in the bar. It was installed by a squirrel named Nolan Bushnell. Nolan Bushnell was the founder of a video game company called Atari. He had previously released a arcade game called Computer Space. It was a game in which you control a spaceship and you shoot at rocks. No one could understand the game. So, Nolan and his partner Al Alcorn, who was also a squirrel, designed a video game called Pong. Pong is a two-dimensional sports game that simulates table tennis. The player controls an in-game paddle by moving it vertically across the left or right side of the screen. They can compete against another player controlling a second paddle on the opposing side. Players use the paddles to hit a ball back and forth. The goal is for each player to reach eleven points before the opponent; points are earned when one fails to return the ball to the other. Bushnell and Alcorn decided to put the game in a bar. The bartender, a wolf named Tom, who had 3 children of his own and a beautiful wife, wasn't so sure he wanted a strange futuristic machine in his bar. What if the people don't like the machine. What if the patrons find Pong boring? This was the moment that would change Zootopia history forever. A group of mammals were hanging out. They were: a male wolf, a female cheetah, a male panther, and a male tiger. The wolf's name was David. The cheetah's name was Amy. The panther's name was Richard. The tiger's name was Samuel. "Hey guys, do you want to hear something funny." David said to his friends.

"Sure. Let's hear it." Richard said.

"Why didn't the skeleton go to the dance?" David said.

"I don't know. Why didn't the skeleton go to the dance?" Samuel said.

"Because he had nobody to dance with." David said.

All 4 animals laughed at the table. They were seated at a table. "Hey guys, do you see that machine over there." Amy said looking toward the Pong arcade machine.

Her 3 friends turned towards the Pong machine. "What is that machine?" David asked. The panther, the tiger, and the cheetah all shrugged. David got up from his seat and walked towards the machine. The Pong machine looked like a carved tree stump. The screen was caved in the machine. David looked at the machine. There was a coin box on the bottom right corner of the machine. It read: 25 cents. The wolf checked his pockets. He had 2 quarters. David went over to the machine and put a quarter into the Pong machine. Once the quarter was in, the screen flickered and it showed to rectangles on opposites ends of the screen. On the top of the screen were score numbers. Right now, they were 0. David noticed that there were circular knobs on the machine. The wolf tuned one of the knobs. The knobs moved the rectangle up and down. The same happened on the other knob. The ball, represented by a small square, floated towards the rectangle. David turned the knobs. The ball hit the paddle. The ball bounced back towards the other paddle. David turned the knob too late. The ball missed the paddle. The first score went from 0 to 1. David started to enjoy it after a while. His friends came up behind him to see the Pong machine. They were surprised at what they saw. David was winning Pong. When Pong was over David turned to see his friends looking at Pong in shock.

"How did you do that?" the panther asked his friend.

"I don't know." David said.

"Let me try." Samuel said.

David gave Samuel a quarter. Samuel played Pong for a little while. Samuel liked it. When Samuel was done, Amy went to play Pong. Eventually everybody in the bar played Pong. The bartender noticed a line forming in the bar and wanted to know what was going on. What he saw surprised him. Tom hadn't expected the machine to be successful. That's how Zootopia was introduced to video games.

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**Next chapter: Video games become popular in Zootopia, so popular that Atari starts to develop home video game consoles. A guy named Chester Cheetah sells home versions of Pong. **


	2. Magnavox Odyssey

Ever since that fateful day in November 1972, Zootopia had gone crazy with video games. There were arcades everywhere. There were even home video consoles. One 12 year old cheetah named Chester Cheetah made it his mission to solicit home video game consoles. He wanted to start with the Magnavox Odyssey. The Magnavox Odyssey was the first home video game console ever made. It was made by Ralph Baer. He was a bear who had this idea of playing a video game at home. He developed the prototype at Sanders Associates. It was called: "The Brown Box." Ralph pitched the idea to several companies. Magnavox was impressed with the prototype. Baer spent the next few months designing further prototypes, and in February 1967 assigned technician Bill Harrison to begin building the project. They decided to manufacture the Odyssey. The Odyssey consists of a black, white, and brown oblong box connected by wires to two rectangular controllers. The primary console box connects to the television set through an included switch box, which allows the player to switch the television input between the Odyssey and the regular television input cable, and presents itself like a television channel. The controllers, which are designed to sit on a flat surface, contain one button marked Reset on the top of the controller and three knobs: one on the right side of the controller, and two on the left with one extending from the other. Magnavox began to advertise the machine. People's reception with the Odyssey was about the same as the reception for Computer Space: no one could understand it. Chester decided the first stop was Gideon Grey's house. How did Chester get from Zootopia to Bunnyburrow? Using his speed, of course. He found Gideon's house via phone book. He looked at the house. It was a duplex. Chester went up the steps. In his arm was the box for the Magnavox Odyssey. The Magnavox Odyssey was inside the box. He knocked on the door. The door opened and a tall fox appeared. "Is this Mr. Grey?" Chester asked. "Yes." the fox said. "Would you like to buy the Magnavox Odyssey? My name is Chester, but I like to be called Chest." The cheetah said. "What's the Magnavox Odyssey?" Mr. Grey asked. Chester pulled the Magnavox Odyssey from under his arm. Mr. Grey looked at the Odyssey in shock. "The Magnavox Odyssey is a video game console." Chester said. "Can I install it in your home?" "Sure." Mrs. Grey said from behind Mr. Grey. Mrs. Grey was a beautiful vixen who wore a red shirt and a orange skirt. Mr. Grey wore a long sleeved black shirt with designer jeans. He wore Nike's. Chester wore a white t shirt with the words 'Star Wars' on it. He wore shorts. He wore Converse. Chester went into the house. He took the Magnavox Odyssey out of the box. The Magnavox Odyssey looked like a spaceship you would see in a space opera. The cheetah hooked up the Odyssey to the television. There was a special "box" that had to be screwed into the system. The box features a button that slides up and down. The Magnavox Odyssey presents itself like a television channel. Once the Odyssey was hooked up, I flipped through the channels of the TV. Chester started to put a plastic overlay on the TV. "What are you doing?" Mr. Grey asked. "I'm putting a plastic overlay on your television set." Chester said. "Why?" Mrs. Grey asked. "Because, in order to play the Magnavox Odyssey, you have to put plastic overlays on your screen. It gives the illusion that the game has graphics." Chester said. "That's ridiculous." Mr. Grey said. "Don't blame me, blame Ralph Baer. He'said the one who designed the system." Chester said. Somebody entered the living room. It was a fox called Gideon Grey. He wore a periwinkle T shirt. He wore sweatpants. "Hi. Do you want to play the Magnavox Odyssey?" Chester said to Gideon, pointing to the Magnavox Odyssey. Gideon looked at the Magnavox Odyssey. "Sure." Gideon said. Gideon and Chester grabbed the controllers of the Odyssey, which were 2 boxes with 3 knobs on them. On top of the Odyssey controllers was a Reset Button. It doesn't reset the game. It just speeds up the ball. The games were "cartridges". The games themselves do not use ROM cartridges like later consoles, but instead use "game cards" composed of printed circuit boards that plug into the console. These cards modify the internal circuitry like a set of switches or jumpers, causing the Odyssey to display different components and react to inputs differently. Multiple games use the same cards, with different instructions given to the player to change the style of game. Chester and Gideon played with the Odyssey. There was a plastic overlay of a tennis game. It was a carbon copy of Pong. It fact Magnavox threatened to sue Atari for stealing their idea. Luckily, the lawsuit never happened. After a few minutes, Gideon said, "This is boring." "How do you like the Odyssey?" the cheetah asked the Grey family. "We think it's kind of fun." Mr. Grey said. "How much does the Magnavox Odyssey cost?" Mrs. Grey asked. "$100." Chester said. "$100? That's expensive." Mr. Grey said. "I know." Chester said. "Here's $100." Chester said. The cheetah gave the Grey family a $100 bill (I don't know what the currency of Zootopia is). He then ran out of the door. Chester continued to sell video game consoles. Eventually, the cheetah sold the Atari 2600. Everybody went insane over the Atari 2600.

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**Next chapter: Somebody plays the video game Berzerk and dies, prompting Zootopia to ban video games. **


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